Hijacked in January – Meet the Curators
Last week we posted an outline of What’s New and What’s Next at AAC. Now we’re thrilled to share with you some of the details of our latest undertaking!
For the past several months we’ve been brewing an exciting new project — it starts with a fine selection of independent, emerging curators who we invited to take over our galleries in January to present four concurrent, yet distinct exhibitions. From there it gets heady with a choice collection of 15 outstanding artists hand-picked by our guest-starring curators.
These four exhibitions will introduce you to the area’s best and brightest new curators – hailing from DC, Maryland , Pennsylvania – and the talented group of artists they’ve assembled. One sip, and you’ll be hooked.
Without further ado, we’re pleased to introduce you to our curators –
Ellen Chenoweth is a freelance cultural worker based in Philadelphia. She holds degrees from Rice and Texas Woman’s University. She curated a weekly event series called HOME at Dance Exchange in Takoma Park, MD, and has worked as a manager with a variety of dance companies and choreographers.
Favorite projects include organizing Kitchen of Innovation, participating in a discussion program in conjunction with the Festival Spektakel in Zurich, Switzerland, and writing for Philadelphia-based website thINKingDANCE. Chenoweth is interested in the intersection between the performing arts and the visual arts worlds.
Danielle O’Steen is an independent curator and critic based in Washington, DC. A New York City native, she has curated several exhibitions in Washington, at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Flashpoint Gallery, and Gallery 102 at George Washington University.
She has worked in the curatorial departments at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the National Portrait Gallery, and The Phillips Collection, and has contributed to publications such as Art + Auction, Artinfo.com, Art Papers, and The Washington Post.
O’Steen received her master’s degree in art history at George Washington University and is currently a PhD student at the University of Maryland, College Park, researching the rise of nontraditional artist materials in the postwar era.
Caitlin Tucker-Melvin was born and raised in the wilds of southern New Jersey. Trained as an artist and curator, she received her BFA in Curatorial Studies from Moore College of Art & Design (MCAD) in Philadelphia, PA and her MFA in Curatorial Practice from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, MD. During her time at Moore, Tucker-Melvin curated an exhibition of works by Gordon Matta-Clark for her senior thesis.
Her graduate thesis at MICA was the exhibition Humanoid Boogy: The Works of William S. Dutterer, a retrospective that spanned forty years of the artist’s practice. Tucker-Melvin has worked at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, MD, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Marginal Utility in Philadelphia, PA.
In her practice, Tucker-Melvin focuses on audience engagement, non-traditional education, and making the artist’s process clear for viewers. Her current obsessions include Dolly Parton and nail salons. She currently resides in Baltimore with her cat Bruce High Quality.
Megan Rook-Koepsel is an independent curator working in the greater Washington, DC area. She has served as a curatorial intern at the Rose Art Museum and at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and as the Graduate Coordinator for the Stamp Gallery at the University of Maryland. While at the Stamp Gallery, Rook-Koepsel organized numerous exhibitions and curated Here/There: works by Ding Ren (2009); Disidentifications (2009); and Sugar High: works by Hong Seon Jang (2011).
She also served as an advisor to the Contemporary Art Purchasing Program for the 2008-2009 and 2010-2011 program years. Rook-Koepsel curated the WPA SELECT 2014 Art Auction and Exhibition, and Constructed Place (2010) at Annmarie Garden Sculpture Park & Arts Center. Rook-Koepsel holds a B.A. from Brandeis University and an M.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park.
